At 3:15am on Wednesday morning (June 29), I met Dr. Phillip Kemp at his dental office to begin loading chairs and other equipment to make the journey to China with the Kemp Dental team. Almost twenty-four hours of travel time later, I was stopped by customs for the first time in my many years of traveling to China. Customs officials wanted to see what was in the big black bags we had, but upon discovering our portable dental chairs they quickly cleared our team to enter the country.
We were greeted at the Beijing airport by Robin Hill of Hope Foster Home. Dr. Keith Chapman, a dentist from Monrovia, Liberia also joined us at this point. Trying to load 29 pieces of luggage and dental equipment on an airport shuttle bus that 50 other Chinese people were using proved to be quite challenging, but we crammed the bus full until we were all loaded. Getting the stuff back off of the bus wasn’t nearly so hard!
Our team continued on to Luoyang, where Maria’s Big House of Hope is located, and we were met by Mikey Shook and the wonderful staff drivers from MBHOH. Because a student team will be staying at MBHOH during this dental trip, we are staying offsite. Our personal luggage was separated from the equipment and after 33 hours of travel we had FINALLY arrived–hot, tired and stinky.
After showers and nine hours of sleep, the Kemp team headed to MBHOH for the first time the morning of July 1st. The women who work with Dr. Kemp were already crying as we walked into the lobby of Maria’s. It is such a sacred place they had all heard so much about. Friday was spent getting the dental clinic set up, and the team is very excited to begin working with the Chinese staff and nannies who need dental services. Keep checking back for updates on the Kemp Dental team!
